News
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Two new laws passed by the District of Columbia Council violate freedom of religion, speech and association, said members of several national and local groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a Feb. 5 letter to Congress.
The letter urged Congress to protect religious freedom and freedom of conscience by disapproving the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 and the Human Rights Amendment Act of 2014 during the congressional review period...
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Assisted suicide is legal in only four states currently, but several other jurisdictions are considering passing legislation to legalize the practice.
If there is a saving grace, it is that no federal legislation to enshrine physician-assisted suicide in law is planned.
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Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs called for an end to financing terrorists and suggested that borders be closed when necessary to prevent their movement.
The leaders also appealed for the creation of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, based on a long-standing proposal for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, and pleaded for the return of Palestinian refugees to their native lands.
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The leaders of the world's bishops' conferences and religious orders must ensure they are doing everything possible to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse and are offering appropriate care for victims and their families, Pope Francis said.
"Priority must not be given to any other kind of concern, whatever its nature, such as the desire to avoid scandal, since there is absolutely no place in ministry for those who abuse minors," he said in a written letter.
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is providing $330 million of financing to aid Ebola-impacted countries. The plan includes $170 million of debt relief and grant-like aid for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The new plan also expands a debt relief facility previously used to cancel debt after Haiti's 2010 earthquake. The new expanded facility, the Catastrophe Containment Relief Trust (CCR), is now a permanent debt relief facility for the world's poorest countries when they experience...
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The classic Christian martyr accepted death when presented with the option "convert or die."
When the pagan emperors of Rome carried out bloody campaigns against Christians during the first three centuries of the church's history, the Christian community had no difficulty in recognizing they were killed "out of hatred for the faith."
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The only word worthy of being heard in the throes of war is "peace," and there is nothing more scandalous than a nation made up of Christians engaged in conflict, Pope Francis said.
"When I hear the word 'victory' or 'defeat,' I feel such great pain, great sadness in my heart. These are not the right words, the only word that is right is peace," he said, when commenting on the escalation of violence in Ukraine.
At the end of his general audience on Feb. 4, the pope noted the...
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February 16, 2015
When the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the constitutionality of the executions by lethal injection in Oklahoma, its ruling will probably not be a tipping point toward the elimination of capital punishment in the United States, but some experts say it could be the beginning of the end of this practice.
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February 16, 2015
If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down federal subsidies that have helped millions of people obtain health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, it will be “an incredible cruelty,” said Carol Keehan, D.C., the president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association. “This act has put 20 million people in a position to have health insurance,” she said on Jan.
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February 16, 2015
Pope Francis has decided that the public ceremony of investiture of metropolitan archbishops with the pallium will henceforth take place in the prelates’ home dioceses, not in the Vatican as has been the case under recent pontiffs.